Thread: Looking for advice on my first cut for the summer

Your training looks good. When you cut you'll probably have to decrease volume a bit but keep weights heavy as you can.

Cardio: Try doing some HIIT after training.

Diet:

Originally Posted by dsc123

MACROS
Calories: 3500
Protein:318
Carbs:377
Fats:25

Your fats are too low. I'd say double your fat intake.
Protein can come down to 1gm per pound body weight.
Carbs can be cut in half.
This should bring your total calorie intake down sufficiently.

As for HIIT to start with would 30 sec sprints with 1 min rest in between be a good place to start total of 10 sets?

Macros along the lines of:
calories:2500
protein:190
Carbs: 180
Fats:50

Which foods are best to eat?

Originally Posted by dsc123

As for HIIT to start with would 30 sec sprints with 1 min rest in between be a good place to start total of 10 sets?

Macros along the lines of:
calories:2500
protein:190
Carbs: 180
Fats:50

Which foods are best to eat?

That is a good HIIT routine.

Macro's look good there. See where that takes you.

I start out with whey (30 gm minimum) and hour before regular meals & post workout.
Your whole food choices are good except I'd cut out the pasta & rice for starters. Cut the dextrose if you have too to get the carbs down a bit.

i'm after a new diet with different foods as im fed up of eating pasta, rice...any layouts which will meet the macros?

Originally Posted by dsc123

i'm after a new diet with different foods as im fed up of eating pasta, rice...any layouts which will meet the macros?

Eat any meats, fish, poultry, etc... plus supplementing with whey for protein.
Leafy green vegetables are great for fiber and nutrients.
Eggs, natural peanut butter, almonds, olive oil, etc... for fats.

For carbs stick with oatmeal, potatoes, rice etc but staying within your macro goals.

high class routine of diet. carry on.

Originally Posted by ianbell121

high class routine of diet. carry on.

im after a cutting diet now as the diet i listed has too many carbs in and carbs which i shouldn't be eating on a cut i.e white rice and pasta... i will try and put a diet together when i get time, and then look for feedback if thats cool!

my training will stay the same though apart from more rest in between sets and HIIT will be added 3x a week.. please bare with me whilst i try to come up with a strict diet...

Originally Posted by dsc123

calories:2500
protein:190
Carbs: 180
Fats:50

I see a problem with the math here.

190g protein x 4cal per gram = 760cal (40%)
180g carbs x 4cal per gram = 720cal (37%)
50g fat x 9cal per gram = 450cal. (23%)

So total calories = 1,930, not 2,500.

Originally Posted by dsc123

DIET
8:00 100g oats with whole milk and 50g whey shake
12:30 100g pasta 1 chicken breast
5:30 125g rice 2 chicken breast
8:00 post workout 50g whey 40g dextrose
9:00 150g pasta 1 can of tuna
before bed 1 casein 30g shake

Personally I can't go 4 1/2, or 5 hours, between meals. And I'm not sure I would advocate it. In a caloric deficiency diet I would recommend lean protein every three hours.

In one of powermaster's posts he recommends cutting out rice, but then in another post recommends eating rice, potato & oatmeal. Personally I wouldn't eat any of those while cutting. There's the glycemic index issue (which some will argue with) but also, you just don't get much food.

For example, I had a huge dinner this evening with seasoned baked chicken with collards, cabbage, & broccoli. Yesterday I had a stir-fry with water-chestnuts, celery & beansprouts. Both were absolutely delicious, plus I got loads of food with minimal carbs. Win-win.

Just food for thought.

would you say 1900 calories is a little low? maybe start at 2500 macros 40%protein 20%carbs 40%fats

Originally Posted by dsc123

would you say 1900 calories is a little low? maybe start at 2500 macros 40%protein 20%carbs 40%fats

Seems reasonable to me. If weight-loss stalls after a few weeks, drop calories a little further and/or increase cardio frequency.

Occasional higher carb reefed days can also help. I've heard of people doing refeeds every fourth day when they get very lean, whereas I know of others on four week long protein-spared-fasts that only did one reefed midway through.
If you ask 20 bodybuilders about carb intake, you will likely get 20 different theories, but I think most would agree that starchy carbs be restricted to breakfast or post workout (PWO).

Varying (cycling) your carbs day-by-day makes sense too. Being carb starved for a prolonged periods results in adaptation & diminished leptin levels. There's an easily readable article here that might help you... Bodybuilding.com - Carbohydrate Cycling: What You Need To Know!

I don't consider myself a nutrition expert, and I've never ripped to 3% for a pro body-building show, but I can say that the last time I ended up in hospital with kidney failure (turned out to be sodium deficiency) the nutritionist (after an hour or more talking) told my wife that she "was going to teach me something before she left." She was eventually right... Apparently the protein source most comparable (in amino ratios) to human meat is egg-whites. News to me. =)

Good luck, and if I can be of any help please feel free to ask. I'm sure everyone else on this site will be happy to help you too.

2400 cals 40/40/20
40% of 2400 = 960 cals need to come from Protein
40% of 2400 = 960 cals need to come from Carbs
20% of 2400 = 480 cals need to come from Fat

960 divided by 4 = 240G of Protein
960 divided by 4 = 240G of Carbs
480 divided by 9 = 53G of Fat

8:00 oats&shake

12:00 chicken salad

6:00 200g chicken 250g new potatos and veggies and shake

8:30 2 scoop shake

9:00 150g salmon and veggies

TOTAL MACROS

Calories- 2345
Protein- 227
Carbs- 125
Fats- 79

How do these macros look, i no they don't exactly match the proposed 40/40/20 as the carbs are slightly lower and fats a little higher, any advice?

Any suggestions for a meal which hold the following macros?

calories- 55
protein- 13
carbs- 115
fats- 0

Bump

I'm after expert advice, anyone?

Try cardio until your legs fall off.

Cardio will be pushed beyond the beyond but would you say that the above diet is okay?

Originally Posted by dsc123

2400 cals 40/40/20
40% of 2400 = 960 cals need to come from Protein
40% of 2400 = 960 cals need to come from Carbs
20% of 2400 = 480 cals need to come from Fat

960 divided by 4 = 240G of Protein
960 divided by 4 = 240G of Carbs
480 divided by 9 = 53G of Fat

No-one suggested 40% carbs. Re-read above.

Originally Posted by dsc123

Any suggestions for a meal which hold the following macros?

calories- 55
protein- 13
carbs- 115
fats- 0

Poptart sprinkled in magic fairy dust?

Check my food journal from yesterday... 7 meals, 2250cal, 40/30/30 (P/F/C). Today carbs will be cut in half, then increased a bit tomorrow (etc).

Originally Posted by Powermaster

Eat any meats, fish, poultry, etc... plus supplementing with whey for protein.
Leafy green vegetables are great for fiber and nutrients.
Eggs, natural peanut butter, almonds, olive oil, etc... for fats.

For carbs stick with oatmeal, potatoes, rice etc but staying within your macro goals.

^^^ Great advice (although if I eat any starchy carbs I do it in the morning or after a workout).

Where can I find your food journal?

Originally Posted by dsc123

Where can I find your food journal?

"Food log" link in my signature below

VVV down here VVV

PS. Ignore the fact I had 5 beers last night!